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Rhode Island Education Circulars 

THE 

SCHOOL AS A CIVIC GUARD 




DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 
1911 



STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 



THE SCHOOL AS A CIVIC GUARD. 

The children of the school are the children of the home' and the 
children of city and town. The school is not a separate and inde- 
pendent institution, but is a civic agency organized and directed, in 
cooperation with other social and political institutions, to subserve 
the public weal. The power and honor of the school reside in its 
pecuHar function of training children and youth for efficient citizen- 
ship. School education is within, not apart from, the common life 
of our people. The successful teacher is always one who knows how 
to relate his school to home and social order. 

To educate a child in civic intelhgence, loyalty, and efficiency is 
not only to teach him to think and feel public good but also to form 
habits of doing practical things for civic improvement, especially 
things in which his parents and neighbors are concerned. To share 
in pubhc endeavor for better things is an important lesson for the 
school citizen. There is danger in the attempt to lay too large 
responsibility upon youth, but even the children of the schools should 
be taught to respect the rights of the public and to do their part for 
civic improvement. It is the legal duty of the teacher to instruct his 
pupils in moral conduct, and to no other instruction are they more 
responsive. As a practical example of such training, children may 
well be taught to help guard the trees and flowers of park and street, 
and keep places clean, for the sake of public health and beauty. It 
is in such service that the school may be accounted a civic guard. 

In all activities of the school it should be remembered that the 
school is already organized for pubHc service. Each school is a unit 



2 THE SCHOOL AS A CIVIC GUARD. 

of a town or city system and a part of a civic institution. It cannot 
be made a subordinate part of any private organization, however 
beneficent. It owes its first allegiance to city, state, and nation. 
As every resident is a citizen of his town or city, so every pupil, as 
citizen of his school, is entitled to an equality of opportunity in the 
life of the school. For these reasons, the formation of clubs and 
societies among pupils, not directed by the school and tending to 
disorganize the school itself, seems unnecessary. Let the school as a 
whole assume its civic duties, cooperate with other public agencies, 
and let every pupil share in its civic aims. For special ends, the 
school will properly have its groups or committees of pupils, but they 
will serve in the name of the school. These groups may be organized 
as the following papers suggest. 

The suggestions, offered by Mr. Aronovici in this circular, by no 
means indicate all the opportunities of the school as a civic guard. 
They have the value of definiteness and direct the attention of teach- 
ers to a service that the school may render to itself and its community. 
To help keep clean their own streets and parks is an object not 
unworthy the efforts of citizens, young or old. 

WALTER E. RANGER, 

Commissioner of Public Schools. 



the school as a civic guard. 3 

''The Civic Guard." 

by carol aronovici, 
Director Bureau of Social Research of Rhode Island. 

The warm weather has come and with it there is a general awaken- 
ing to the things of the out of doors, to the many pleasures and duties 
that the sky and the fields and the brooks and little gardens offer to 
the men and women, to the boys and girls of the city and country. 
The birds are aware of it, and are coming in flocks; the insects are 
awakening from their winter sleep, and even the children are begin- 
ning to feel the call of the fields and to count the days that bring them 
near the vacation season with its many promises of play and freedom 
from the regular school duties. 

All these are things of joy and promise, but we should not accept 
them without assuming at least a small share of the responsibilities 
and duties of making our season yield its fullest blessing by lending 
our hand. Boys and girls can aid greatly in making the work of nature 
more successful and more widespread, and to protect our city and State 
against the careless and injurious acts of persons who do not appreciate 
the value of having a beautiful city. The boys and girls in the schools 
of Rhode Island must realize their power for doing good and for 
helping the older people keep the city clean, orderly, and healthy. 
To do this they should organize in little groups called " Civic Guards," 
which after proper preparation of by-laws, electing president, sec- 
retary, treasurer, and other officers, would take it upon themselves 
to carry out certain plans for the protection of their city or town. 
They should see to it that the city streets are kept free from dirt^ 
papers, rubbish, and other unsightly material; that the trees are not 
injured by destructive boys; that the song-birds are not attacked, but 
encouraged to make their homes in the trees and shrubs in our 
gardens and along the wayside, and that the parks and play-grounds 
are kept in an orderly and cleanly condition. They should protect 
the hedges and shrubbery along the roadway, assist neighbors in 
doing the spring cleaning in their yards, help the principal and 



4 THE SCHOOL AS A CIVIC GUARD. 

teachers of the school to keep the school yards clean, and when 
possible, to plant trees and shrubs and flowers about the school 
building, so as to make the premises beautiful and shady, and in 
this manner give the whole community an air of orderliness and 
beauty such as has never been seen before. 

These things can be done by boys and girls with much pleasure 
and great profit to all concerned. School children in other cities and 
towns outside of the State of Rhode Island have done it, and the 
children in Cumberland, a town in this State, have carried to a suc- 
cessful end such a plan as is here suggested. They have learned 
many things about being useful citizens, and have taught the older 
people how they also can learn from the example of the younger 
generation. 

As time goes fast and the day for good ''Civic Guard" work is 
here, we must all get busy organizing, and the principals and teachers 
of the schools will stand ready to help you if you are willing to become 
guards of the city or town in which you live. 

Clean Up and Beautify Your Schools and Their Surroundings. 

by carol aronovici. 

The school, like the home and the church, is a place which should 
reflect the sense of duty, cleanliness, taste and reverence for what is 
good and true. The streets about the school house, about the home 
and about the church are the frames in which these sacred places 
find their settings. 

If the streets are of such close relationship to the school, the home 
and the church, they should be kept as clean, as beautiful, and as 
well cared for, as we keep our schools and our home. A dirty dress 
or coat, dirty shoes, and torn stockings, spoil the looks of the best 
looking boy or girl. A dirty street or yard will spoil the beauty of 
the prettiest school house and the nicest home. We judge the boy 
by the care he takes of his clothing, and we judge the school by the 
care it takes of its yards, and the streets about the building. 



THE SCHOOL AS A CIVIC GUARD. 5 

The boys and girls in the schools, which are paid for by their 
parents, should give as much care to the outside of the school build- 
ing, the yard, the street, and the neighboring open lot, as they are 
expected to give to their books, their desks, the floors, the walls, and 
the other things in the building. 

The boys and girls in our schools are not always careful about the 
school yard, nor are they careful about the streets which lead from 
their homes to school. I am sure that they would not be so careless 
if they realized that the street is the hallway which connects the 
school and the home, and that the careless throwing of papers and 
rubbish into the street means dirty streets, papers flying all about, 
and dust that gets into the eyes and noses and throats of people, 
which often causes sickness, and even death in the community. 

When big people see something in the community which is bad, 
and which must be done away with, they form leagues and societies 
for the purpose of fighting the evil. Boys and girls in our public 
schools, when they find that the streets which lead to the school and 
about the school are dirty, and not at all beautiful, they should also 
form leagues to fight the carelessness of their own school mates and 
of other careless persons. Children can teach older people how to 
keep the city clean and wholesome and beautiful by doing their own 
share in keeping it clean and wholesome and beautiful. 

In keeping our streets beautiful the boys and girls must also re- 
member that it is not enough to avoid throwing papers and apples 
and banana peelings and other rubbish on the street. They must 
look after the trees and shrubbery that border the street with the 
same tender care that they or their parents or their neighbors care 
for the trees and shrubs about their homes. 

In New York city scores of thousands of school children have 
organized in leagues and are helping to keep their great city clean. 
You live in a smaller city and can more easily do your share towards 
this work. 

The principals and teachers in your school, I am sure, will always 
be willing to help you keep the school yard and the streets clean, and 



6 THE SCHOOL AS A CIVIC GUARD. 

will always be ready to show you how to do it in the quickest, most 
courteous, and easiest way. 

Get together and form a league which will help your teacher, your 
parents, and the city government to make your community the 
cleanest and best cared for in the State. 

To the Teachers and Principals of Elementary Schools.— One of the 
main factors in the life of our school children should be their civic 
education. The city streets are the most intimate elements in the 
life of the child outside of the range of parent or school supervision. 
This State, and particularly the cities of this State, could be easily 
made the field of practical lessons in civic cooperation by giving the 
children of the pubhc schools the opportunity to interest themselves, 
and in so far as possible care for the cleanliness and beauty of a con- 
siderable part of our civic work. 

In New York city, and in Brookline, Massachusetts, school chil- 
dren 's leagues organized for the purpose of keeping the city streets 
clean proved a success. This work could very effectively be done in 
Rhode Island. The principals and teachers of the schools could well 
organize the children in their schools into "Civic Guards" for the pur- 
pose of protecting trees and exercising such self-control and vigilance 
over the cleanliness of the city streets as would be a practical and 
useful lesson to the children themselves and would be a saving to the 
community as a whole, both in the way of expenditure for cleaning 
streets and in the way of preserving trees and other elements that go 
towards the beautifying our thoroughfares. 

The writer will be glad to furnish any information and all the 
assistance possible to every school throughout the State which would 
undertake to organize its children into such leagues as are above 
suggested. 

Address the writer to 55 Eddy Street, Providence, R. I. 



the school as a civic guard. i 

The Cumberland Civic Guards. 

by william w. andrew, assistant commissioner of public 

schools. 

The Cumberland Civic Guards is an organization to promote clean- 
liness, beauty, and order in the town. It was organized October 14, 
1910, in the Valley Falls school by the principal. Miss Etta V. Leigh- 
ton. It was formed of pupils of the fifth and sixth grades and such 
other persons as the society may from time to time elect. At present, 
there are about sixty members, forty-four from the grades mentioned, 
ten from the lower grades, and a few honorary members from other 
schools. They have a written constitution, which is as follows: — 

Article I. — This society shall be known as The Cumberland Civic Guard. 

Article II. — All members of Grades V-VI of Valley Falls School and such 
other persons as the society may from time to time elect, shall be eligible for 
membership in the society. 

Article III. — It shall be the object of the society to work for cleanliness, 
beauty and order in the town. 

Article IV. — ^The officers shall be a President, Vice-President, Treasurer, 
Secretary and Director. 

Article V. — ^The teacher of the V-VI Grades is ex-officio the director of the 
society. 

Article VI. — Persons become members by signing the pledge and the con- 
stitution. 

Article VII. — Regular meetings shall be held once a month. Special 
meetings may be held at the call of the conductor or at the request of the officers. 

As indicated in the constitution, a pupil becomes a member by 
signing it and subscribing to this pledge: — "I promise to do all 
that I can to promote cleanliness, beauty and order in our town." 
The society aims to develop individual initiative, civic pride, and 
social cooperation. 

The colors of the Guard are blue and gold. Each member wears 
a round button with the letters, C. C. G. in' gold on a blue background. 
Their society yell, adopted unanimously and very popular is : 



8 THE SCHOOL AS A CIVIC GUARD. 

"Who are we? 

The C. C. G., 

Working hard for O. B. C. 

That's our business 

C. C. G." 

The meetings are conducted by the children. Oftentimes they are 
allowed to experiment for themselves in the best way to accomplish 
some given activity. Each boy and girl gives an oral report of 
what he has done since the last meeting. Occasionally, at a public 
meeting the pupils recite selections which stimulate civil pride or 
contribute to the uplift of its members in the ideals which they have 
set for themselves. 

Each individual feels responsible for the beauty and cleanliness 
of his own yard, of the streets of his town, and his school yard. 
This duty expresses itself in endeavors to keep these properties free 
from refuse of all kinds. He enlists the sympathy and cooperation 
of his parents, teachers and officers of the law in carrying out this 
purpose. 

Valley Falls and the adjacent territory offer a promising field for 
civic improvements. The school is situated near the railroad tracks 
which are a constant menace to the safety of the pupils. With this 
in mind the Guard passed the following resolution: 

" Resolved, that the Cumberland Civic Guard forbids its members to play about 
the freight yards." 

To promote individual safety and public cleanliness, the Guard had 
printed and distributed among all the pupils in the village the follow- 
ing directions: 

PLEASE TAKE WARNING. 

Do not go on thin ice. 

Do not chase your hat across the street. 

Do not chase a ball across the street. 

Do not run out from behind a car or wagon. 

Do not throw paper or other refuse in the streets. 



THE SCHOOL AS A CIVIC GUARD. 9 

Blackbird Pond, situated not far from the school, had been used 
as a general repository for waste materials. In winter, it was used 
for skating, but the pleasure of this sport was greatly hampered by the 
refuse which had gathered there. The Guards cleaned it out, and 
added not only to the general beauty, but the general comfort as well. 

Another example of their industry is to be found in the preserva- 
tion of an oak tree which had been injured and generally neglected. 
They cleaned and filled up the ground at the foot of the tree, put up 
a sign of warning to those who might be careless of its life and beauty, 
and generally took it under their protection. 

Miss Leighton has taken the Guards on excursions to show them 
examples of civic activity. They have visited Brown University 
and the John Hay Library; the Union Station, City Hall, the Provi- 
dence Public Library, and the press room of the Providence Journal. 
In these excursions, they become acquainted with cities and towns 
and are better able to discuss questions of public interest. They are 
planning to visit historic spots in Cumberland and Lincoln. 

In their meetings, they study the ordinances of the town of Cumber- 
land in their bearing upon some question which may have come up for 
discussion. 

At a recent meeting of the society, one small boy brought in the 
following quotation which well illustrates the ideals of the Guard: — ■ 

"Clean homes, clean children, clean school houses and clean yards will help on 
the movement toward scientific sanitation. In fact these are absolutely essential 
to proper health conditions. We believe that the element of beauty is also an 
important factor toward this end. Well painted buildings, well kept lawns, and 
flower gardens, a few pictures of real merit in the living room and the school will 
lift to higher ideas, better morals, better health, and better character." 



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